Choosing a class
Choosing a Class The class you choose determine what kind of role you will play in the World of Warcraft. Classes are split by several significant traits; Melee Damage, Ranged Damage, and Support Classes. Generally Support Classes will fall either under primarily Melee or Ranged for the damage output they do, although their damage in these two areas are typically not as significant in the classes that dominate those traits. Also see: * Quick Summary of Each Class for another overview of classes. * Class for links to detailed info and specific race and faction requirements. * Per Class Proficiencies for info on weapons and armor availability and limitations. Melee Classes Melee Classes are closed range fighters who primarily don't use spells, and rely on their close proximity to Ranged classes for their advantage in combat. Excluding the Paladin, there is no Melee class that has the ability to heal itself, and most who choose Melee classes decide to learn First Aid* to reduce downtime while solo leveling. Melee vs. Melee can also bring on interesting encounters, especially between Rogues and Warriors, or any Melee class attempting to endure combat with a Paladin. All classes can use First Aid, but because First Aid is not an instant skill but is channeled, most players find it pointless to attempt to bandage themselves in areas with high enemies or when they understand that their channeling will be interrupted which will waste a bandage. However, it is important to note that First Aid is a VERY good skill to have when you can back up from any imminent damage and you have a Tank for yourself. Most notably, you cannot be rebandanged by any player until 60 seconds has passed since you were last bandaged. Paladin Paladins are an Alliance specific class. Paladins are sometimes referred to as "Priests in Plate" or "Healing Warrior", as they are known for their strong buffs and quite proficient healing ability. Paladins are one of the most popular classes in the game, and their survivability has a great deal to do with that. Along with their healing spells, they have several spells to increase their damage, decrease their damage taken, and spells which can save their lives in combat, such as an impenetrable shield or a spell which fully restores the any player's health (up to the maximum health of the paladin) at the sacrifice of all of the Paladin's remaining Mana (Lay on Hands). Much like the Shaman, some of their abilities are considered imbalanced, and unfair for the opposite faction who must combat against these abilities, but this should be balanced by the fact that paladins cannot carry a ranged weapon. As mentioned, the shield and fully restore heal can make it seem as if the Paladin has numerous lives, and gives them the reputation as being the most difficult, as well as irritating, player to kill in player vs. player combat. Paladins have the ability to wear Mail armor from the start, and at level 40 they can wear Plate. They have an ability to use several different types of weapons, particularly 2 handed Axes and Maces and Swords, much like a Shaman. They cannot wield any ranged weapons other than , they have two skills that can be used for pulling – Exorcism against undead and demons only, and Judgement which has a range of 10 yards. This is hardly a pulling spell, and can only be used in pulling only if you can get that close without aggroing. Paladins are reasonably easy to play for fun, and can solo decently with a two-handed weapon. There have been times when a lone paladin has fought three monsters, each of them three to four levels above him, at one time. But by no means is that easy to do. It takes skill and knowing where your spells are when you need them, not to mention the human racial skill that allows you to wield a sword or mace as if you were one level higher. Paladins are great for buffs and auras (not all are useful at all times, and some should be used only if two paladins work together), and can take damage, but they are best used as a protector of the cloth-wearers. With their stun skills they can prevent a mob from attacking one (temporarily), and they can give a bubble of protection to one at a time with five minutes in between. When this bubble is activated, the player is fully impervious to all damage, and aggro transfers to the next player. Keep this in mind when you might cast your own bubble on yourself! Rogue Stealth is the Rogue's best friend. Several of the Rogue's abilites that cause significant damage requires that the Rogue be in Stealth when using the talent. Rogues suffer from the same basic difficulty that Warriors do, close proximity combat. Because of the use of a weaker armor (leather) Rogues are unable to take as much damage as a Warrior, or later on, Hunters and Shaman which can wear mail armor at level 40. Rogues are arguably the class which can cause the most damage in the game, and they are frequently found at the top of damage-monitoring mods during endgame raids. Another great "downfall" of the Rogue is their reliance on burst damage, meaning that they cause as much damage as possible in as short amount of time as possible, but to the contrary, some can see this as an advantage to ending battles quickly. Lastly, when a Rogue learns the ability Vanish, their survivability in Raids and Player vs. Player combat is significantly increased because of the ability to disappear and become undetected during the battle. Warrior Warriors are the foundation of all parties. They take take the most significant damage of all the classes available to play because of their ability to use Mail, and at level 40, Plate armor. Typically they rely on classes which cause higher damage because Warrior damage isn't known as being as significant as most of the other classes. With Potions and Food, a Warrior has the ability to solo just as well as most classes, and because they use Rage instead of Mana or Energy, there is very little down time between killing enemies by the Warrior. In Player vs. Player combat, Warriors can experience difficulty due to their reliance on close range combat to down their enemies. Ranged Classes Ranged Classes are, obviously, the exact opposite of Melee classes, in that they use as much distance as possible to cause damage to their target. Like Melee classes, aside from an ability by Warlocks, Ranged classes do not have the ability to heal themselves, and also opt to train in First Aid for leveling purposes. The primary concern from Ranged classes is their reliance on usage of armor with lower protection, such as Cloth or Leather, except for the Hunter who, at 40, can train to use Mail armor. Hunter Considered by many to be the most popular ranged class in the game, hunters use a great mixture of special ranged attacks to affect their target in order to keep range and continue damage. Once a target is in melee range, hunters can use the assistance of their pet, or weapons that cause greater damage then those of their ranged counterparts (Mages and Warlocks typically use Staves or certain endgame Swords/Daggers). Hunters also use a tamed pet to assist in damage against their targets, and for some classes it can be difficult to decide which to attack first, since it can sometimes seem like a pet is almost the same as another player. Similiar to rogues, hunters also have an ability to lose the aggression from NPC enemies with an ability, Feign Death, to escape from combat. Hunters also occasionally have issues with inventory space, as many hunters choose to carry a quiver or ammo pouch to increase their ranged attack speed, sacrificing one out of their five bag slots. Mage Mages are the ranged combat equivalent to rogues, and are known as causing arguably the most up front damage in the game depending on which specification the mage chooses to use. Primarily, mages are famous for their Area of Effect spells, such as Blizzard or Arcane Explosion, that cause damage to several enemies all at the same time. Mages are also very popular for their ability to open Portals for their party to use to travel to a capital city (Orgrimmar, Ironforge), and their ability to conjure water and food to assist in faster regeneration of mana and Health during down time. Many mages will focus on either Ice or Fire damage, and while Ice Mages have higher survivability, their damge typically doesn't equate the damage caused by fire mages. As mentioned above, the mages' greatest weakness is their reliance on mana, except later on when they learn a spell which quickly regenerates mana but has a very long cooldown, and the use of Cloth armor and inability to cause significant damage with melee weapons. Warlock The warlock is known as being one of the more difficult classes to understand and master in the game. Warlocks are very similar to Mages, except they have a Demon Pet, and primarily use Damage over Time spells instead of Area of Effect spells, even though most classes have a little bit of both. Warlocks are also known as being at the top of the list of damage dealers in damage trackers used in endgame raids, and their Soulstone ability is considered vital to some raids to prevent the members from having to start at the beginning of an encounter once the entire party has died. Their weaknesses are identical to those of the Mage, but early on Warlocks learn an ability to regenerate Mana by sacrificing health. Warlocks also have problems with inventory space similar to hunters due to Soul Shards, which drop off of enemies that grant experience; without these, a warlock cannot use many abilities that can be considered key to the class and most warlocks carry a dedicated bag for them called a Soul Bag. Support Classes Support classes can fall into either Ranged or Melee classes, but because of their ability cast healing spells, they are generally called upon for this reason instead of their damage dealing potential. Even though these classes are proficient healers, they are also proficient in causing enough damage to retain the ability to solo level. Some players also believe that these classes have the ability to solo much more efficiently then the damage dealing classes, but this subject is, like many other things in World of Warcraft, a topic of heavy debate. Priest Much like a Warrior, the presence of a Priest is considered vital to the successes of a party. There is very little argument among veteran players that the Priest is anything but the most efficient healer in the game. Along with a spell which greatly increases the target's Stamina, and if the Priest trains in the selected tree, a spell which increases Spirit, the Priest has some of the most popular buffs among the classes with lower health. A Priest pairing with virtually any class can be a quite lethal combination, with the priest's partner doing the damage and the priest keeping their partner alive. In Shadow Form, some players believe that Priests can cause damage that rivals many of the ranged classes, but it is still a general consensus that Priests should be healers in any situation except when they are solo. Like many ranged classes, Cloth armor makes survivability of a Priest significantly lower, thus making it necessary to "Protect the Priest". Druid Many veterans consider Druids to be the only absolute Hybrid class in the game, and this is because they learn the abilities to become a Bear (Warrior), a Panther (Rogue) or Moonkin (Mage) as well as their base ability as a healer that rivals the proficiency of a Priest. When there is a situation lacking Priest, generally the job of healing is given to a Druid because of their strong heals, and their typically higher mana amount then that of a Shaman or Paladin. Druids are among the rarest classes in the game, and many believe this is because the Druid is not the number one on any of the abilites they can shift into. In the Druid community, it is widely believed that if a Druid obtains the correct equipment and uses the correct talents, they can rival the primary of any class for which they supplement. Critics to this argue that such ability is virtually impossible for the majority of Druids, and that they would never take a Druid over a Warrior, Rogue, or Priest. Druids use Leather armor, and can train in several melee weapons, but many use Staves to increase spell stats, unless the Druid chooses to focus on their melee types (Cat and Bear). Shaman Shaman are a Horde specific class. Widely believed to be the "favored" class in the game by the developing team, Shamans have many abilities that most players consider to be unfair and that can alter the balance of the game, especially in player vs. player situations. Shaman are a class which uses several damage spells, but are also known as having significant ability to perform with melee weapons, as well as heal when necessary. Shamans also have the unique abilities of Ghost Wolf(a travel increase by 40%), self-resurrection, an array of Totems, and a shorter duration Hearthstone. These three abilities, along with Shock spells, give the Shaman the label of being overpowered. Yet, like most of the other classes that have a very large population, the talent of a Shaman is also greatly dependent on the raw talent of the player themselves. Shaman are also known as being very difficult to master becuase of their versatility, and like most support classes are expected to supplement raids in endgame settings. Shaman wear Leather armor until 40, after which they gain Mail armor similiar to Hunters, and have the ability to use a variety of weapons, as well as 2 handed Axes and Maces should they put points into the selected talent tree. Category:Classes Category:Gameplay